Rei's secret
by Kazuki Landen
Summary: *On hiatus* Rei has a secret, which even he doesn't know. Mr Dickenson tell him in chapter 2, but what is the secret? And what happens when Rei finds out?
1. Chapter one

Max pulled back the cover on Tyson's bed. Tyson grumbled "Go 'way, I'm sleepin'" and buried himself again.

Rei backed carefully out of the bathroom, balancing a large pitcher of water in his hands. "Ok Tyson, you asked for it." He tilted 'it' over Tyson's head. "You have till three to wake up. If you don't…I will be forced to drown you." He and Max snickered as Tyson snored and rolled over, then Rei shrugged. "Ok, onetwothree! Time up!"

He tipped a few drops onto Tyson's nose. Max poked Rei in the back, and he twitched, spilling the rest of the water all over Tyson's face. Immediately Tyson gave an appalled shriek. "Ahhh! Rei! What did you do that for?"

Rei and Max collapsed on the floor in hysterics, while Kai stood by the door with his eyes shut. Finally, Max managed to gasp out "You weren't waking up! We had to get you up our way!"

There was a knock on the door. "Come in," Kai muttered.

Mr Dickinson walked in. "You're finally awake then, Tyson." He turned to Rei. "Rei, I need a word. Outside, please."

Rei frowned. "Sure. Why- "

Mr Dickinson held up a hand to stop Rei. "In private, please." Rei obediently followed the man out of the door, frowning.

Once the door was closed, Mr Dickinson spoke. "This involves a rather sensitive issue. It might be easier if you heard it from one of your team-mates? I could tell them, and then go, and then they could tell you. Tyson or Max would be glad to help, I'm sure."

"Um…if you don't mind, could Kai hear it? Please?"

Mr Dickinson frowned gently "If you want, and he doesn't mind." He opened the door, and called through the gap, "Kai? Could you come here please? Rei, can I call you back when I leave?"

"Sure." Rei opened the door, and stepped back to the other room.

Kai slid past the other teenager, shutting the door behind him. "What?"

"I need to tell you something, which you then need to tell Rei after I have left. It would be easier on him to hear it from one of his friends, rather then from me."

"Very well." Kai's blunt acceptance didn't even faze Mr Dickinson.

"You know Rei was born in China, and adopted there by Li's family, as his mother died in childbirth, his father was unknown, and he had no other relations. Well, there were complications with his birth. Li's father carried her to the hospital in the nearby town.

"There, she gave birth to twins."

Kai spoke up. "I thought Rei had no brothers or sisters."

"That's right. Kathlyn only contacted me recently after seeing Rei on television. She noticed the similarities then."

"Why had they been separated?"

"She was so small when she was born, the doctors weren't sure she'd pull through. Rei's mother died during childbirth. Three days after the birth, Rei was removed from his incubator, while Kathlyn stayed there for another three weeks. Li's father took Rei without asking after the other child, of which he knew nothing.

"Is that it?" Kai asked, as Mr Dickinson trailed off.

"Yes. That's it."

"Fine. Are you leaving now? I should tell Rei as soon as possible."

"You should." Mr Dickinson called through the door, "Bye Tyson, Max, Rei." He formally shook Kai's hand. "Goodbye Kai. Look after Rei, won't you? This will come as a massive shock to him." Mr Dickinson left.

"Rei. I need a word. Now, please." Kai was curt. He didn't want his team-mates thinking he was going soft, now, did he?

"Oh, now I get to hear it! You were ages!" Rei eagerly followed Kai through the door.

Tyson spoke as the door slammed shut. "And does either of them think about telling us? No. They don't. Huh, too many secrets going on these days."


	2. Chapter two

"Rei, you know your mother died when she had you?"

"Of course."

"Did you know that you weren't the only child born?"

"No… no, I didn't…"

"She was left behind. She was ill, no one expected her to survive, so no one told Li's father. He left with you but not with her."

"Oh…" Rei accepted it without question – Kai would never lie to him, not knowingly, and nor would Mr Dickinson. "What was… is… her name?"

"Kathlyn. Most people call her Kath."

Swaying slightly, a small smile slid across Rei's face, a strange look in his eyes. "I knew she existed. I always knew…" His knees gave in and he fell to the floor in a dead faint.

Kai started forwards, supporting Rei's body as he dropped. Landing on his knees, he hefted the younger boy into his arms, and walked backwards through the door.

Tyson and Max stared at Rei, then looked, wide eyed, at Kai. The glare in his steely eyes dared them to say something, anything. Neither of them took the dare.

Kai lay Rei on his bed gently. He had a big brother style affection for the younger boy. He hated to see him hurt.

Later-

Rei's eyelids flickered, then opened. "Hey, buddy, you're awake!" Tyson grinned happily. Kai said nothing, but just gave off glares waves of the 'go away' variety.

"Hey, Tyson, could, uh, could you and Max let me have a word with Kai? You know, privately?" Rei asked, awkwardly."

"Alright," Tyson muttered doubtfully, "If you want." He and Max went to the door. "We'll go get something to eat."

When they had left, Rei turned to look at Kai. "What am I going to do?" he begged. "I've got to meet her!"

"Don't worry," Kai reassured him. "Mr Dickinson has arranged a meeting. He hasn't told Max and Tyson about her yet. He thought you might want to tell them yourself. Oh… one question. What did you mean by 'saying you knew she existed?"

"Oh… I knew I had a twin. When I was a child, I used to talk to her in my head. The Elders said that she didn't exist. By the time a was six years old, I believed them, and the conversations stopped."

Kai's glare lessened, as he attempted a smile. "Well, if you want to meet her, Mr Dickinson told her to be in the hotel garden by 10 o'clock. It's five to, so you can go and meet her now, if you want."

Rei climbed to his feet eagerly. "Just show me the way."

The garden-

Rei opened the gate and looked around. A figure, dressed almost exactly like him, was standing by the fountain. She had her back turned. Rei walked slowly over to her, silent in his cat-like tread, and touched her left shoulder.

She spun, and Rei was suddenly looking into eyes the exact same colour as his own – a bright, bright amber.

The two of them froze, for a silent instant in time. Then, at the exact same moment, they whispered each other's names, and gently embraced, burying their faces in the other's shoulder. "I knew you were real! I knew it!"

Kai stepped through the gate, after letting the twins embrace for a few moments. "Sorry, Rei, but I think you're going to have to explain to Max and Tyson what you're doing in the garden with a girl." He pointed to a window, two floors up, where the two younger boys were staring down at them, astonished.

Rei gave a sound that was almost a laugh, almost a sob. "I'm sure they'll believe me."

Kathlyn stepped back. "My brother, the famous beyblader… scary."

"Not brother." Rei tapped the girl's nose disapprovingly. "Twin."

She giggled. "Twin." They embraced again, each holding the other against them as though afraid that they would disappear into thin air if they didn't hold them tight.

Kai shook his head. This was so weird.


	3. Chapter three

Kath, resting on the soft chair in the corner of the room, laughed at Rei, but they both jumped as Rei's teammates entered the room in chaotic noise.

"Hey Rei, who's the girl?" Tyson teased.

"She's my twin sister," Rei spoke simply, the grin that had been present for hours growing even wider.

"Way cool!" Max was bouncing out of his seat with excitement. "Stand next to her, Rei, so we can see you together!"

As Rei obeyed the instruction, Max and Tyson's eyes opened wide. "Rei, she, she looks just like you!" Max stuttered. It was true. Rei and Kath were almost mirror images, aside from a slightly feminine look about Kath's figure and face and the hint of makeup on her features.

"Rei, how come you never told us you had a sister?" Tyson asked.

"I only knew today."

Kath glared at Max and Tyson. "I am here, you know. You can talk to me, not just Rei."

Rei started to laugh, the excitement overcoming him once again. "Kath, I missed you all my life!" He clutched her shoulders again, and embraced her.

"Rei!" Kath hissed, trying to keep from laughing. "You're embarrassing me!"

"Isn't that what brothers are for?"

Tyson whispered to Max, "I've never seen Rei so happy!"

"Me neither!"

Kai said nothing. He may have a brotherly affection for Rei being his team-mate, but Kath, well! He would definitely like to get to know her better.

That evening-

"Hey, Rei, you want to go for a walk? Kath asked him.

"Sure. See ya later, guys." They had spent all day with the Bladebreakers, and wanted some time on their own.

Kai came up to them. For once, he seemed to be embarrassed. "Before you go, could I have a word with Kath, please?"

"See you by the reception, then, Kath." Rei left, giving Kath a wink.

"Kath, would you, maybe…" Kai had trouble getting the words out. "Would you like to go out with me tomorrow?" He rushed the sentence, and then his face turned red, clashing horribly with the blue shark fins on his cheeks.

"Sure, Kai, if you want." She smiled at him, and left Kai with an idiotic grin on his face.

Tyson whistled. "Got yourself a girlfriend, Kai? Aw…" he snickered.

Kai launched himself at Tyson and twisted his arm behind his back. "You say that again, Tyson Granger, and I'll personally make sure you can't ever eat another bite. Got that?"

He released Tyson's arm, and the younger boy rubbed it, grumbling, "touchy!"

Reception-

"So, where're we going to go?"

"Wherever our feet lead us!" Rei jumped, and nimbly landed on a roof. "Bet ya can't catch me!"

"Bet I can!" Kath followed him, grinning.

By the time they had run out of rooftops, they were both laughing. Jumping down from the last building, they found themselves in a park. It was nearly dark, but they could both make out the shapes of several teenagers plus the glowing tips of cigarettes in a far corner.

Racing to a tree with stout branches, they started competing over who could reach the top first.

While they were playing, the teenagers, unnoticed, surrounded the tree. Kath jumped down, saying, "We'd better get back." Suddenly, she yelled, "Rei, watch out! There's-" Her voice was cut off as a man clapped his hand over her mouth and pulled out a flick knife, holding it against her throat.

Another man called up the tree, "Come down or we'll hurt her!"

A disembodied voice floated down to them. "I don't think so." There was a rustle of branches, and a very quiet thump was heard outside of the circle.

Rei's voice came out of the shadows, calm and bold. "You hurt her and you will have lost your only hostage. I don't think you will hurt her." The men heard the sound of a beyblade being rigged. "Now let her go."

One of the men jeered, "Oh, yeah, like that little toy is gonna hurt us."

"You asked for it!" Rei launched his beyblade. "Driger!" The white tiger rose swiftly out of the blade and attacked the man holding Kath.

The blade cut two clean slashes across the teenager's face, one on either cheek. He let go of Kath and clutched the wounds. "Stupid kids! Prob'ly got nuthin anyway."

The gang ran off, back into their shadowy corner. As the last of them left, Kath saw a flicker of steel flying towards Rei.

With a yell, she flung herself at him. "Rei!"

Rei was thrown to the ground, and Kath landed heavily on his chest.

He tried to get up, but Kath was a dead weight. He pushed her off him, and stood up. Rei looked at her, but she just lay where he had left her. Suddenly scared, he fell to his knees beside her and rolled her over.

The girl heard a voice, calling her out of the misty black darkness. She opened her eyes.

Rei had hold of the knife embedded in her side, and was trying to pull it out without hurting her. Finally, the tip emerged. Along with it, blood started rushing out. Kath gasped in pain, screwing her eyes up tight.

Rei ripped the bottom of his tunic off, and folded it into a pad, pressing it against the wound.

Kath smiled faintly. "Rei, don't. I'm dying. I'm so sorry that-" another wave of pain shook her body, and she had to gasp for breath.

Desperately, Rei pleaded with her. "Kath, you're not going to die, I won't let you!"

Deathly white now, Kath continued. "You can't stop it, Rei. I'm sorry I couldn't spend more time with you. Please, tell my adoptive family I'll miss them. And… tell Kai that I loved him at first sight. And, Rei,"

Rei leaned in closer to hear the whispered words, "I love you, Rei."

He whispered back, "I love you too. I'll miss you." Not taking his hand from the already blood-soaked cloth, he gave her gentle hug, and kissed her cheek.

"Goodbye, Rei." And with those last two words, she closed her eyes and sighed, the breathed no more. They were so close that Rei could feel the life leave her body.

"No! Kath!" Still holding her tight, tears began to trickle down his face. "Please… no…"


	4. Chapter four

Tyson was getting anxious. "Where can they be? What if they got lost?"

Kenny rolled his eyes. "Tyson, they met each other for the first time in fourteen years today. I think they might have just a little catching up to do."

Kai shared Tyson's worries. "They could be in trouble. I'd better go and look for them." He made his way to the door. "Don't wait up, it might take a while to find them. If I'm not back by nine tomorrow, call the police."

He shut the door behind him, as Kenny, Max and Tyson traded glances.

The park-

Two hours after Kath had died, Rei was still clutching her lifeless body. His tears had stopped, the traces were still clear on his face, mixing with the rain that was pouring down on the two of them.

Rei was exhausted, and as soon as he stood, his legs gave in. He was asleep almost before his head hit Kath's outstretched arm.

3 o'clock in the morning-

At the end of an alleyway entering the park, Kai stood silently, rain-drenched. He turned away from the grassy area, but as he moved something white and blue caught his eye. Forcing his worn out legs to move, he jogged over to it.

Rei and Kath were slumped on the ground. Rei's white tunic was ripped at the end, and his eyes were red and puffy.

Part of Kath's tunic was stained a dirty red, but Kai couldn't see what was wrong, as her hand was in the way. He moved it gently to one side, and as the makeshift bandage fell off, he saw a bloody slit in the fabric.

Frantically, he tried to find her pulse. There was none.

Knowing there was nothing he could do, he checked Rei's. It was steady and strong, and Kai sighed in relief.

He hefted his team mate over his shoulder in a fireman's left, then picked Kath up and rested her in his muscled arms.

Standing up, he slowly stumbled away, but not before carefully picking up the bloodied knife and putting it in his pocket.

The hotel-

The phone in the Bladebreakers' room rang. Kenny, who was closest, climbed out of bed and answered it with a sleepy greeting. The moment he heard Kai's voice echo down the line, he woke up. "Kai! We were worried sick! Have you found them?"

Kai sounded exhausted. "Yeah, but they need an ambulance. I've already called one. It should be here in about twenty minutes."

"Kai, are you alright? You sound like you're shivering."

"I'm fine. It's them that are ill. It's really warm out here though, so I can't be shivering."

"It's two degrees out there! Kai, you have to get warm and dry, now! You might have hypothermia!"

"Relax, Kenny, I'm fine…" Kai's final word ended on a soft sigh.

"Kai? Kai? Are you still there? Kai!" He got no response, except for the slight pattering of rain on the phone box.

After a few seconds, a tinny voice echoed down the phone. "To continue talking, please insert money." Moments after that, the phone went dead.

20 minutes later-

The wailing of an ambulance cut through the rain. It pulled to a halt at the entrance to the street, as the two drivers looked around for what they had been called for.

"There!" One of them spotted Kath and Rei leaning against a wall, sheltered from the rain by an overhanging roof. "You go see, I'll bring the van." The other man nodded as he got out.

As he approached the two of them he yelled, "Tom, it's only a couple of kids!"

Tom followed him in the ambulance, then got out. "The boy's called Rei, and the girl's Kath. Blimey, they must be twins or summat!"

"Wonder where the guy who called us is? Think he said his name was Kai, or something like that."

"It doesn't matter. We need to get these two to the hospital."

"Right." Pete agreed.

They lifted Kath and Rei onto stretchers, then into the ambulance. As they slammed the doors, one of them noticed Kai, slumped on the ground inside the phone box at the entrance to the park.

They lifted him onto a stretcher, but as they did so, a ripping of fabric caught their attention. A blade stuck out of the new tear in Kai's trousers, two or three inches long. Pulling the knife out gingerly, the older paramedic showed his partner. "This must be the guy that called us out, seeing as he was in there," he indicated the booth, "but if he killed her, why ring us? It can't have been an accident. He must have felt sorry for what he did."

"It's a problem for the police to sort out, not us. Call another van, we can't take all three of them, get them to bring a couple of cops too, I don't want him waking up on us."

The hospital-

Kai awoke to find himself in a hospital bed, warm and dry. He knew he had been given a sedative, as he was finding it hard to grasp more than one thought at a time. His face itched; raising one arm to rub it, the movement was abruptly cut short by a rattle of metal.

A nurse came in, drawn by the sound. "So, you're awake. Criminals like you shouldn't be in a good hospital – they should be sleeping in a gutter."

Kai, struggling to focus on anything, let alone the fact he was a criminal, was speechless for a moment, before shaking his head. "Criminal? What… I don't understand, all I did was ring an ambulance!"

Business like, the nurse injected something into a cannula that led into his arm. "Don't pretend you don't know. They found the knife in your pocket."

Unnoticed until now, a police officer standing outside the door stepped into the room. "Keep contact to a minimum, just get him well enough to be transported." He scowled at Kai, who lay in stunned silence. "He'll be on trial soon enough."


End file.
